Beryozka
Encyclopedia
Hard currency
Hard currency , in economics, refers to a globally traded currency that is expected to serve as a reliable and stable store of value...
. Beriozkas sold goods that were either unavailable or more expensive in regular shops. In English-language advertisements and signs, the spelling was always "Beriozka" rather than the strictly accurate transliteration "Beryozka."
One chain that belong to Vneshposyltorg
Vneshposyltorg
The All-Union Association Vneshposyltorg was an organization in the Soviet Union which handled trade in imported goods for hard currency.It was mostly known for its chain of shops Beryozka....
(Foreign Mail Order Trade) was intended for Soviet citizens who received some income in hard currency. Some of them were forced to sell their currency for rouble-denominated Vneshposyltorg checks, while others never laid their hands on foreign currency, receiving their pay from Western sources in Vneshposyltorg checks via Soviet intermediaries. The checks were to be used to purchase goods in the Vneshposyltorg Beriozkas.
The other chain sold goods directly for foreign currency and for Vneshtorgbank
Vneshtorgbank
Bank VTB , former Vneshtorgbank, is one of the leading universal banks of Russia and the largest in terms of authorized capital....
series D checks. Soviet citizens (except for high-ranking officials) were not allowed to enter these stores as they were legally forbidden to be in possession of hard currency.
The hard currency stores were named Beriozka only on the territory of the RSFSR. Other republics of the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
had similar stores usually named after their "national trees." For example, hard currency stores were named Kashtan (Chestnut
Chestnut
Chestnut , some species called chinkapin or chinquapin, is a genus of eight or nine species of deciduous trees and shrubs in the beech family Fagaceae, native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The name also refers to the edible nuts they produce.-Species:The chestnut belongs to the...
) in the Ukrainian SSR
Ukrainian SSR
The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic or in short, the Ukrainian SSR was a sovereign Soviet Socialist state and one of the fifteen constituent republics of the Soviet Union lasting from its inception in 1922 to the breakup in 1991...
, Chinara (Oriental plane
Platanus orientalis
Platanus orientalis, or the Oriental plane, is a large, deciduous tree of the Platanaceae family, known for its longevity and spreading crown. The species name derives from its historical distribution eastward from the Balkans, where it was recognized in ancient Greek history and literature....
) in the Azerbaijan SSR
Azerbaijan SSR
The Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic , also known as the Azerbaijan SSR for short, was one of the republics that made up the former Soviet Union....
, etc.
There were also separate Albatross stores in the Soviet port cities that sold goods to Soviet sailors returning from abroad. The Albatross stores sold goods for Torgmortrans checks issued by the Department of the Soviet Naval Fleet in exchange for foreign currency earned by the sailors.
Beriozka stores were opened in 1964. Their predecessors were Torgsin
Torgsin
Torgsin were state-run hard-currency stores that operated in the USSR between 1931 and 1936. Their name was an acronym of torgovlia s inostrantsami , "trade with foreigners." Unlike the later Beryozka stores, Torgsin stores were open to Soviet citizens, provided they had access to hard currency,...
stores on 1930s and the highly ineffective Vneshposyltorg departments of the large Soviet department stores (e.g. State Universal Store
State Universal Store
GUM is the name of the main department store in many cities of the former Soviet Union, known as State Department Store during the Soviet times. Similar-named stores were in some Soviet republics and post-Soviet states. The most famous GUM is a large store in the Kitai-gorod part of Moscow,...
) that allowed catalog mail order from abroad by customers paying in hard currency.
Beriozka stores became obsolete in the early 1990s when conversion of rubles into hard currency was allowed. The stores were privatized and in the mid-1990s most were closed as uncompetitive.
Many other countries had similar institutions, such as Intershops
Intershop
Intershop was a chain of government-run retail stores in the German Democratic Republic in which only hard currencies could be used to purchase high-quality goods. The East German mark was not accepted as payment...
in the German Democratic Republic
German Democratic Republic
The German Democratic Republic , informally called East Germany by West Germany and other countries, was a socialist state established in 1949 in the Soviet zone of occupied Germany, including East Berlin of the Allied-occupied capital city...
or Friendship Stores
Friendship store
A Friendship Store is a state-run store in People's Republic of China , which initially sold exclusively to tourists, foreigners, diplomats, and government officials but now has no restrictions on customers.-History:...
in the People's Republic of China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
, though some of these systems allowed anyone with hard currency to shop there.
Similar Stores
- IntershopIntershopIntershop was a chain of government-run retail stores in the German Democratic Republic in which only hard currencies could be used to purchase high-quality goods. The East German mark was not accepted as payment...
– East Germany - Genex (Direct mail) – East Germany
- BaltonaBaltonaBaltona is an enterprise created in 1946 in Poland. Nationalized and subordinated to Polish communist Ministry of Foreign Trade in 1950, it was tasked with resupplying Polish ships, planes, diplomatic posts, airports, seaports, border crossings, and even scientific expeditions...
– PolandPolandPoland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north... - PewexPewexPewex was a chain of hard currency shops in communist Poland...
– PolandPolandPoland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north... - TuzexTuzexTuzex, during the period of communist rule in Czechoslovakia, was a network of shops in which it was possible to use hard currency or Tuzex vouchers to purchase foreign, mainly western luxury goods, unavailable at regular stores. The Czechoslovak koruna was not accepted. The name Tuzex is a...
– CzechoslovakiaCzechoslovakiaCzechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992... - CorecomCorecomCorecom was a chain of hard-currency stores during the Communist rule in Bulgaria . Goods were often priced cheaper than in the West, however, they were still inaccessible for most Bulgarians because the national currency, the lev, was not accepted at the stores...
– BulgariaBulgariaBulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east... - Friendship storeFriendship storeA Friendship Store is a state-run store in People's Republic of China , which initially sold exclusively to tourists, foreigners, diplomats, and government officials but now has no restrictions on customers.-History:...
– People's Republic of ChinaPeople's Republic of ChinaChina , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres... - Eastern Bloc economiesEastern Bloc economiesAfter the Soviet Union's occupation of much of the Eastern Bloc during World War II, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin implemented socioeconomic transformations of each of the Eastern Bloc economies that comported with the Soviet Communist economic model...